


Skittish

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 10:53:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18754993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: The good news: Emiri found a new pet. The bad: he won't let Edér anywhere near him





	Skittish

**Author's Note:**

> For Pillars fill 87. I didn’t really pick one of the RFI companions, but rather gave a few of them a little attention. Went with puppies, and despite intentions otherwise, a pet Edér is not allowed to pet.

 

It started with the dog. A scrawny, rust-colored lab Emiri found while they were clearing out Crookspur. He just looked so _hungry_ , and his eyes were so _sad_ , she and Edér spent a good half hour sitting on the ramparts near the crate he cowered in, letting the others handle the few remaining slavers while they earned the lab’s trust.

Or, well, Emiri did. Even after he’d cautiously edged toward the pair, tail between his legs but unable to resist the scraps Emiri offered, he skittered away from Edér’s attempts to pet him.

“Guess that answers how Crookspur treated him,” Emiri said with a sympathetic smile. “Must’ve been bad for him to still be afraid of folk.”

“Yeah.” Something stormy flickered in Edér’s eyes. “Glad we killed the bastards.”

“‘Cause the _slave-trading_ wasn’t bad enough?” There may have been a tiny bit of unintentional edge to the ribbing.

“Shit, no, ‘Mir, that’s not what I meant,” Edér muttered, tossing a pebble back over his shoulder. It ricocheted off the ground and battlements a couple times, and the dog cringed. “I just-”

“I know you have a soft spot for animals,” Emiri said, keeping still so she didn’t further spook the dog.

“Yeah, and I think the best thing I can do for this one is leave.” Slowly, reluctantly, Edér got to his feet and headed for the stairs.

“You can cuddle Lottie as long as you want when we get back to the ship,” she offered. “You know she loves you.”

Edér half-smiled. “Thanks, Miri. I’ll probably take you up on that. For now, I’ll see if the rest need any more help.”

He’d no sooner vanished down the stairs then the dog closed the gap, ears still back, tail still down, and warily let Emiri scratch under his chin. She chuckled softly and shook her head.

“Now that’s just _mean_ ,” she whispered, shifting her hand to stroke the side of his face. He flinched slightly, but let her. “Edér _loves_ animals; more’n anyone I’ve ever met. He’d give you so many good tummy rubs and ear scritches.”

The dog whined and gave her a soulful look.

Emiri sight, looked him over. “I know, boy. Someone treated you bad, didn’t they?” She snorted softly, scratched the side of his face. “We’ll make it better, I promise.” She got to her feet slowly, smoothly, no sudden movements, and patted the side of her leg. “C’mon, boy.”

He started after her, but it only took a couple steps to see he was limping.

So she knelt back down and cajoled him closer so she could pick him up. “Shh, shh, it’s okay,” she soothed when he started to panic. She shifted her grip so she wasn’t touching the injured leg. “We’ll get you all fixed up.” She kept talking, soft and soothing, all the way to the ship, kicking every slaver corpse she passed for good measure.

-*o*-

Fortunately, the dog’s injuries weren’t serious, and he took an immediately liking to Xoti, so held still while she patched him up. Emiri had to simply trust it would end well--Xoti’s cooing and the dog’s faintly wagging tail suggested it would--while she took care of their _other_ rescue from Crookspur, the death godlike Eliam.

She wasn’t even halfway through breaking his manacles when Edér joined her on deck, stem of his pipe clenched between his teeth and a little rain cloud practically floating over his head. Emiri raised an eyebrow as he slouched on a crate.

“Lottie liked the new dog,” he muttered in answer to her unspoken question.

Emiri bit her lip to keep back a giggle. “I’m sorry,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “I’ll give you a hug once I have Eliam free,” she offered. “You know she’s a curious thing. Once she’s satisfied, she’ll come find you for some attention, I’m sure.”

He just grunted and took a pull on his pipe. She couldn’t blame him for feeling put out, considering.

Emiri was eventually proved right; it took a couple hours from their return for Lottie’s curiosity about the new dog to be satisfied, but she did come flop down with her head in Edér lap afterward.

“So, what’re you gonna name the new one?” he asked, one hand contentedly scratching Lottie’s ears. “Figured that out yet?”

“Actually, I have.” She was surprised by that herself; most of the pets she collected in the Dyrwood had taken forever to name. “I was thinking Rexan after the main character in the book I’m reading. Right now he’s just a beggar and street thief, but I’m pretty sure there’s more to him than that. Seems fitting.”

Edér grinned. “Rex for short?”

Emiri shrugged. “Sure, if you want.” I would be easier, and the concession felt like an apology for the lab’s lingering distrust. She smiled as Lottie let out a contented-dog noise. “She likes what you’re doing.”

“‘Course she does. I know all your soft spots, don’t I, girl?” he crooned, and the hound’s tail thumped the floor. “Includin’ your new buddy Rex.”

“Don’t be jealous,” Emiri admonished with a laugh. “She still loves you.”

“Not as much, though. I think she’s happy to have somethin’ else four-legged along for the ride.”

Emiri chuckled again and nodded. “Probably, but no one gives better ear scritches--or puts up with her drooling on them longer--than you.”

“Aw, thanks, Miri. I’ll keep that in mind when she starts spendin’ all her time with Rex,” he laughed sardonically.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

Edér gave her a skeptical look. “Sure, and maybe Aloth and Tekéhu will be best friends someday.”

-*o*-

In the end, neither of them was completely right. Lottie didn’t spend _all_ her time with Rex; but they were together enough it wasn’t really a surprise when she ended up with a bellyful of pups. And despite the hound’s open adoration and trust for Edér, Rex still wasn’t comfortable around him. He never growled or snapped, just got up and slunk away whenever he saw the farmer.

As was inevitable in close quarters, everyone knew within a couple days that the new dog wouldn’t let Edér pet him. As was equally inevitable, everyone had their two pands as to _why_. Everything from ‘ _talk more softly around him_ ’ to  _‘just sit close by ‘til he trusts you’._ Nothing worked. Then came the more extreme suggestions; like Serafen’s.

“Maybe it’s your beard, mate,” he pointed out at dinner one night, stroking his own impressive facial hair. “Mayhap he prefers folk which are clean shaven.”

Aloth all but choked on his drink. “I’m not certain whether I’m terrified or intrigued by that prospect.”

“Ain’t gonna find out,” Edér retorted, sounding so indignant Emiri couldn’t entirely bite back a giggle. “‘Sides, he likes Konstanten just fine, so I don’t reckon that’s it. An’ it ain’t bein’ folk, ‘cause he’s alright with Xoti and Rekke.”

“Much as I hate to say it, if we haven’t figured it out by now, we probably aren’t going to,” Emiri said with a sigh. “Just gonna have to deal with it, keep working to see if he’ll trust you.”

Lottie came trotting in just then, and rested her head on the bench between Emiri and Edér. She gave a soft whine to make extra sure they knew she was there and both of them obliged with head pats.

Lottie panted happily, tail wagging, then looked back toward the door and barked. Emiri turned and saw Rex lurking out in the passage. She could see his tail wagging softly, but he wouldn’t come in the room, even when she called for him.

Lottie gave another whining bark and rested her head on Edér’s leg as she looked encouragingly at Rex.

He wouldn’t budge.

Emiri flashed a wordless, apologetic smile to Edér, then slid off the bench to sit with Rex. She knew you couldn’t rush recovery, but Wael’s eyes, she wished she could figure why the dog was afraid of Edér, the last kith on Eora _any_ animal  needed to be afraid of. Unless they didn’t like being petted, she supposed. But Rex thoroughly enjoyed attention from everyone else on the ship now.

“Do you just need more time, boy?” she murmured, both hands scratching the sides of his face. Rex let out a happy-dog groan and rested his face more firmly in her hands, tail swishing back and forth. _I just wish I knew **how much** time, _she couldn’t help thinking, all the same.

-*o*-

If Rex was reluctant to let Edér near him, Lottie spent the second half of her pregnancy compensating for that. Any time Edér was on the ship, Lottie plunked herself down next to him, rolling over so he could rub her slowly-expanding tummy. He always obliged, and Emiri started teasing that maybe they should call Lottie his dog now.

He always waved her off--”Nah, Miri, I know what she means to ya”--but Emiri was willing to bet he was at least _tempted_. As it was, he was the first to feel the pups move, Lottie’s first choice for attention when she couldn’t find Emiri, and yet somehow still the bane of Rex’s existence.

But he had apparently resigned himself to the reality that this one dog he might never get to pet. He didn’t have to be happy about it, but he had accepted it. And anyway, by this point Emiri had collected another half dozen animals aside from Lottie he could pet and cuddle.

-*o*-

A breakthrough still hadn’t arrived by the time Lottie’s pups did. Rex still skulked away whenever he sensed Edér approaching, but now there were _puppies_ \--adorable lab-hound mutts with floppy ears and soft fur--which effectively dulled any remaining sting to that fact.

There were eight of them, and they were enough of a handful even before they opened their eyes that Emiri begged Konstanten to check on them whenever she wasn’t there to do it.

“Sorry to drop that responsibility on you,” she said sheepishly. “But you can handle it, right?”

“Sure can,” he assured her with a chuckle. “And if I can’t, I’ll just get Maia to help.”

“She’ll _love_ that,” Emiri laughed. “just don’t ask Fassina; she’s so done with that kind of work, she may toss you into the ocean, and no one wants that.”

Despite the dwarf’s laughing promise he’d be just fine, Emiri still tried to shoulder most of the responsibility when she was aboard the Mercy. _Tried_ being the operative word--Edér usually beat her to it and waved away offers of help.  On the rare occasions Emiri got puppy duty, Rex would join her, head in her lap while he, too, kept an eye on his offspring. Lottie tolerated the company, but largely didn’t need it. She was a good mother, which Emiri and Edér praised her for regularly.

-*o*-

In one small gift amid their circumstance, the sea stayed mostly calm for weeks after the pups were born. And even when a storm finally hit, it wasn’t a bad one, by sea-faring standards.

Emiri’s standards, however, were not normal seafaring stands. She spent the duration on the floor of her cabin, hugging Rex--who seemed to know how badly she needed him--and hoping Lottie was alright. The weather had been cleared up a good half hour before she convinced herself to get up, it was safe now. _You really need to check on Lottie, anyway._

Rex padded behind her with the occasional soft whine as she made her way to the area they’d partitioned off for Lottie and her pups. They’d padded things as well as they could when Konstanten first spotted the approaching storm, but she was still worried.

She shouldn’t have been. Soon as the area came into view, she could see Edér sitting on the floor by the dogs’ bed, slouched in what she guessed was a mildly uncomfortable position, all eight puppies piled in his lap and Lottie curled up next to him.

“Not taking any chance?” Emiri asked playfully. She sat next to him and caught one puppy as it tried to squirm over his elbow.

“I didn’t do it, she did,” Edér retorted with a grin, nodding toward Lottie. “I was just plannin’ to sit here and keep an eye on ‘em. Guess she felt like this was safer.”

Lottie’s tail thumped the floor.

Emiri couldn’t resist a quiet laugh, leaning over to stroke one of the velvety soft heads. “Aww, that’s adorable. And you doubt when I say she loves you more than she does me.”

“Miri, you weren’t here, or she prob’ly woulda picked you,” he protested.

“You don’t have to try and protect my feelings, Edér,” she laughed. “I’m glad she trust you.”

As if on cue, Rex poked his head around Emiri, cautiously eyeing the man with a lapful of his puppies, clearly trusted by his mate, and edged a couple tentative steps closer. Edér shifted ever so slightly to catch a slipping puppy and Rex shrank back.

Emiri and Edér both froze in response and Lottie gave an encouraging whine, licking Edér’s arm as if to reinforce her endorsement.

_Oh, come on, boy, you can do it._ Emiri urged mentally but didn’t dare actually _do_ anything for fear the skittish lab would just bolt. After several arduous seconds, Rex crept forward again. He edged slowly, hesitantly around Emiri, darting nervous looks at Edér ever step of the way.

For his part, Edér was barely breathing, still as a statue even as the pups wriggled in his lap. Emiri saw the hope in his eyes and prayed he didn’t try anything too soon.

Finally, Rex stood closer to the farmer than he’d ever dared before, faintly trembling but not running in the opposite direction.

_Good boy,_ Emiri thought, afraid if she actually so much as whispered she’d shatter the breathless moment. _Edér, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t try to pet him yet._

He didn’t, and both of them watched with bated breath as the lab slowly craned his neck, chin briefly resting on Edér’s drawn-up knees to bump noses with a puppy who had settled quite comfortably there. A muscle in Edér’s arm twitched in fatigue at his position, and Rex flinched away, skittering from the room.

But Edér still looked at Emiri and _grinned_. “Well, ain’t that somethin’.”

She nodded, returning his smile. “That it was.”

It wasn’t much, but it was a first step, and that was _definitely_ something.

**Author's Note:**

> Using Rex as the pet was largely because I knew I was going with puppies, Emiri still has Lottie(the black hound from Gilded Vale), and I googled Lab/Hound mix puppies. THEY'RE SO CUTE.


End file.
